Horse rescue feeling inflation strain with higher costs, more horses

HEREFORD, Ariz. (KGUN) — Inflation isn’t just affecting people; it’s making it harder for some families to care for their animals.

For that reason, Horse'n Around Rescue Ranch and Foundation is dealing with both rising costs and more mouths to feed.

The rescue in Hereford, south of Sierra Vista, gives horses a place they can get treatment and get the nutrition they need.

But the sanctuary is not immune to rising prices.

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Co-founders Theresa Warrell and Steve Boice say one cost that’s hard to stomach is feed for the horses.

“In October, we were paying about $13.99 for a bag of pellets that we use, Bermuda pellets,” Voice explained. “And right now it’s about $20 a bag.”

Boice says he has to cast a wider net and buy in bulk to bring down that cost. He also had to put equine osteopathy school in Texas on hold. However, he says saving up along with generous donations from the public have allowed the rescue to adjust to inflation, putting it in position to handle the next several months.

Now, however, the co-founders say they’re receiving a surge of calls from local families looking to give up their horses, with everyday expenses like gas and food now too much to handle.

“Because of the economy and all of the inflationary problems we have, people were like ‘Okay I’m going to feed my horse, I’m going to feed my kids, I’m going to feed my goats’ or whatever they have. Somehow they had to trim back, and that’s what a lot of the horses that we’ve been getting have been,” Boice said.

Only some of those horses have actually come to Horse'n Around, because the rescue already holds more than 60 horses and is nearing capacity.

Adoptions can lighten the load and they keep those here at the ranch motivated.

A horse named Journey now has someone ready to adopt him, after coming to the rescue skinny and malnourished. Voice compared his ribs at that time to a cattle guard.

“He’s being ridden, and he’s gone through training. That makes it all worthwhile because it’s now a completion of the horse,” Voice said.

Between adoptions, volunteers like the Wood family are taking on the extra work.

“We’ve seen horses come in starved and leave to their new homes happy and chunky and loved,” said Jessica Wood, at the rescue with her three children. “And so we just really wanna see them continue to progress and grow at a healthy rate. But it definitely—the economy is hurting that.”

We’ll hear more from this community of volunteers in Part Two of this story, next week on KGUN 9.

Horse'n Around is looking for more volunteers, donations and adoptions. For more information, you can visit the rescue’s website.